Page 41 of Reckless
“I’m going to take a walk,” he mutters and drops his brother’s gaze, shoulders slumping as he edges past us and out the white gate.
Rhett props his hands on his hips and lets out a long breath. “I hate when that version of him pops up.”
“Yup,” is all I come back with because, well, I don’t know what else to say. Although I don’t know Beau well, I’m familiar enough with the Eaton family to know Harvey would give him a good shake for disrespecting Winter.
“It’s getting better, but now and then I’d just like to deck him. It’s like Winter going out of her way to help him with treatment back home has irritated him somehow.”
“What did she do?”
“I don’t know. Got him in with some doctors to help with the scars. Pretty sure she told him he needed therapy, but in whatever Winter-way she’d have of telling him that, which went over poorly. He’s a terrible patient, always has been. But he also doesn’t tell anyone shit—that’s not new either.”
I think of how I’ve felt, going from capable to injured, and can see it. Watching these two unload the truck while I move lighter things with one hand doesn’t exactly have me feeling useful.
“The more I see him now, the more I realize that even when he was home, he wasn’t. His head was always off on assignment somewhere. He’d waltz in and be all happy-go-lucky. But I can’t help but wonder if that was an act. Ya know?”
Rhett looks down the sidewalk where Beau’s outline has now rounded the corner onto the main street of Chestnut Springs. I have a sinking suspicion he won’t be back for a while.
“Right, well...I’ll do everything I can to help you with the rest of this.”
My friend shrugs and glances back at the truck. “It’s okay. I can call Summer, see if she can scoot over from the gym to move the heavy pieces. Let’s just do all the rest.”
I can’t help but smile. He and Summer are so damn good together.
“You think she can squat more than you?”
Rhett cracks a grin. “I don’t think. Iknow.”
With a chuckle, I scoop Peter up, because as soon as I start walking, he’s going to bark at my feet. There’s a laundry room in the basement and he’ll get set up there with a bed, food, and water. I just hope the concrete walls drown out his annoyed yips at being left behind.
I nuzzle the top of his bubbly little head. “Be quiet, okay? We can’t have everyone next door crying, alright? It’s not gentlemanly.”
He shakes in response. As a chihuahua does. Or so I learned when I rushed him to the vet for shaking all the time.
Then I’m back to all my worldly belongings in the back of that truck. It’s not much, because I’ve never really hunkered down anywhere. Over the past four years, I’ve spent the better part of my time on the road. I spend a few days here and there with my mom at her place in Emerald Lake, but more often than not, I crash at the small condo I rent in the city. It’s practically a storage locker and not very well equipped, but it’s all I’ve needed.
And the thought of living there for a few months while I recover felt depressing. So here I am, being swallowed up by the Eaton family. I don’t even know who suggested this living arrangement anymore. Summer? Because I could rehab at her gym? Harvey? Who said I shouldn’t be alone? Sloane? Who said she knew the perfect house?
Whoever it was, I wasn’t sad about it.
But I didn’t know Winter would live next door.
Once we’ve got the four chairs set around the square table in the dining room, I finally break down and ask, “So what’s the deal with Winter?”
Rhett swipes a hand over his forehead. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. She’s living out here now. She has a baby? She—”
He huffs out a laugh. “Don’t harass her like you did that night at the Christmas dinner. She’s got enough on her plate without you air humping in her direction like that little dog of yours.”
My nose scrunches up. “Peter doesn’t air hump.”
“Why does your dog have a human name? Everything sounds so much weirder when I imagine an accountant or something air humping. Plus, Summer sent me a video of him humping my pillow when we took care of him.”
“That’s not air humping though. That’s him humping your pillow. Don’t judge him.”
Rhett wheezes out a laugh. “Do you know that dog gets boners randomly sometimes? Like he’ll just be sitting there and have his red rocket out.”
“You’d be in the same boat if you couldn’t wear pants.”
